Tag Archives: friends

So an old friend gave me some Amish Friendship bread, er, well – she gave me the ‘starter’ for Friendship Bread… here’s the friendship bread story w/ recipe … it’s dough in a bag, and each day I’m supposed to do something special with it. So I waited 3 extra days to get started on the whole baking process. it’s yummy bread, but for the effort I’d rather make chocolate-chocolate chip cookies or something.

I’m doing ok – thank you, everyone, for your kind comments below… I’m sad, but it was the right decision (at least i think it was… yes, it was.. right?) I’m second-guessing myself (remembering the good things) and continue to remind myself: the things that were not going well were fundamental, basic, major, foundation-building things… and all the wanting & wishing in the world couldn’t change those things, especially if both of us didn’t see them. He was a near miss… and I’m going to be ok – that drumbeat is still in my heart… ‘everything is going to be just fine’

Am home sick (thank you to Facebook friends who sent well wishes already!) this weekend & into Monday… but look forward to being a bit more functional tomorrow – been sleeping a fever away most of today. Already have a list for tomorrow… need to cross a few things off.

I’m headed to a work conference in Chicago, Illinois USA later this week – some colleagues and I are taking the train… train travel isn’t as common here as it is in Europe, so I’m really excited about the trip (and not having to deal with the headache of having a car in downtown Chicago!). We’ll be gone from Wednesday – Saturday… just in time to be home on Sunday – to get the grocery shopping done for Thanksgiving!!!

I love Thanksgiving, but I do *not* love grocery shopping the week of Thanksgiving… the grocery stores are a madhouse :P

Three friends and I meet for dinner about once a month – we’ve been doing it for about a year now, and it’s truly a blessing… and something I always look forward to. Last night we met for one of our dinners…

there was a bit of confusion about location (one girl thought it was next week) but we finally were sitting around the table… dinner and converstaion was good – I truly enjoy our time together.

After we paid the bill, we continued to talk… about stuff. Nice conversation… At one point I looked across the table and both women started to scream. They were looking at the floor outside our booth, pointing, and were yelling! I, too, looked… and saw a squirrel! VERY surprising to see a squirrel… and he looked very surprised himself. There was a little iddy-biddy squrrel inside this nice restaurant… and the manager, waiters, and bus-boys were trying to non-chalantly capture this rodent and take it outside. Our whole restaurant was all a twitter… it was hysterical. We were laughing so hard… one man said (i think he was a manager) that it was his last night – and of course this would happen on his watch on his last night…

There was a little old lady who was obviously terrified and disgusted… but she also told the staff not to hurt the squirrel.

The man at the next table was giving us a running commentary (the small animal got into the space between booths… and the waiters were trying to excavate him) … a play-by-play if you will.

The booth was disassembled… (guests were reseated, of course)… there was a broom and dustpan… a blanket to catch small visitor… at one point they thought the animal got into the wall (somehow).

Not sure how it ended… we had to leave before the event was fully resolved.. and we were tired from laughing so hard. Hopefully he’s at home, online, blogging to his acorn-eating buddies about the night he scared all of the humans at that restaurant….

Glad we chose that restaurant – we were treated to dinner AND a show :)

an old friend brought her 16 month old baby to my house for a visit this evening… between dinner and bedtime (so it was a short visit)… but we had some tea (in my hand-made mugs) and I baked some delicious brownies (fudge-like w/ extra chocolate) served w/ coffee ice cream…. what a treat!

…in college I received three (3!) marriage proposals when I made a butterscotch cake for a friend’s birthday party… perhaps I should volunteer to bake for a similar occasion in the future :)

Work is relatively stressful at the moment… I feel like the further I go, the behind-er I get. There’s so much to do for my students … and with my current caseload demands, it’s very difficult to address every need on a weekly basis, let alone tackle the bigger projects. I need to make a master list – yes! that’s it… I’ll make a master list of what I want to address with specific students, and take it from there. I’ll try to remember that tomorrow – sometimes my moments of clarity get clouded in all of the mind juggling currently going on…

Oh, this is funny – there’s a guy I’ve been communicating with… not many sparks (but he was a bit cuter the 2nd time we met)… we had a private joke about me being a princess… started with the 4-post bed I put together (long, complicated story for another day)… ’cause, you know, princesses sleep in high 4-post beds with a canopy…. anyway, this is how I responded to him… he hasn’t written back yet – Can’t decide if he:
A) thinks I’m incredibly charming and is taking time to write a creative email response… OR
B) I’ve totally weireded him out and he has removed me from his ‘friends’ list

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[excerpt correspondence between Rain and her male-pen-pal-person – MPPP for short]

HE SAYS: hopefully you sell [your condo] soon and can buy a canopy…

SHE RESPONDS: you know, I’ve been thinking…about what to do once I get my canopy… shall I kiss a frog? Perhaps fall into a deep sleep… or maybe I’ll go live with seven short men who work in mines… Putting a pea underneath the mattress isn’t necessary (it’s already well known that I bruise easily)… and, anyway, vegetables belong on a plate, not in bed. …Perhaps I’ll ask a pumpkin to take me to a grand party (wearing two glass slippers – me, not the pumpkin). Actually… I think I’ll wait and kiss Prince Charming. That’s what the storybooks usually say…happy ending and all.
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I could have responded in a very nice, normal way… but I decided to respond in a Rainy way… wanted to find out if he can go with the flow… it’s very important that a man be able to play with me – verbal banter and intelligent talk are a must… I wonder what will he do…?

…I’d be interested in your comments… How do you think he will respond? :) I’ll keep you posted – check the comments section in a few days… unless, of course, it was truly option #B above :) …which would actually be a blessing – I’d know he isn’t able to play. Perhaps he’ll surprise me…

Anyway, have a good day tomorrow!! I’m looking forward to some rainy weather :)

i’m thinking, who’s this new person, writing a book with each entry? this Rain person must have some nerve… either overly confident or incredibly self-centered… (probably both – i’m completely self-absorbed every moment of every day…all of the time…never giving thought to others…ever)

met someone a few weeks ago – we’ve been communicating online for a bit (but live only miles apart..go figure). no sparks, but we took dating off the table (too much pressure – sizing someone up in 35 seconds…we’re just getting to know each other instead…however, that changes the dating climate and has the potential to make things difficult…another blog for a different day) i’ve gathered that he’s a slow-starter… but i know i don’t always want to be the one who initiates things, you know? Anyway, we spoke tonight and may play cards tomorrow after work. we’ll see…

had a friend’s mom over for dessert tonight – her daugher and i went to school together years ago… it was really nice. i made chocolate brownies (served warm from the oven) with french vanilla ice cream… she got to see my new house – it was a nice evening after a difficult day.

was in a looooooooooooong inservice training today… it made me angry… because it wasnt’ planned well, it was an inefficient use of our time, and it’s not appropriate for many of my students. and the principal wants us to start using the NEW CURRICULUM on MONDAY…we’re already 3 weeks into school w/ students (…um…we’ve already planned for the next four weeks using the old curriculum…) I’ll write more about this after I wrap my brain around it… i just feel that special education classrooms and special education staff members (teachers and therapists) are there to support the students who have special needs… to support their access to the curriculum.. to help bring them up to grade level… to help give them the skills necessary to learn in as similar a format as their typically-developing peers… and i feel that we (the special ed staff) are being asked to focus our resources on the typically developing student (w/o special needs) and leave our special ed kids behind. it truly feels like the pendulum has swung too far to one side… i’m going to mull it over for a few days, then speak to my department chair (who was not part of today’s training). i’ll keep you posted. (had i written this earlier in the day, i would have used much more strong language… but i think the chocolate browines and talking to my childhood friend’s mom helped… i just needed a great big hug by the time i got home, you know? that’s a bummer sometimes about living by myself – there’s really no one around when i need a big hug… and no one to blame about dirty dishes in the sink)

on that note, it’s time to go scrub the dishes in the sink… that way, it’s like a present to myself in the morning – i wake up, walk into the kitchen, and viola! clean dishes. (it’s all about playing mind games…keeps me entertained.)